Voyage Dates:
Next available openings launch March/ April 2027

Joining Port:
Dependent on voyage and research location

Departure Port:
Dependent on voyage and research location

Minimum Commitment:
At least one month or one complete research section

Application Deadline:
Rolling applications until available placements are filled

Expedition Audacity invites emerging and early-career researchers to propose original scientific projects that can be conducted during one of our upcoming voyages.

We do not assign every researcher to the same vessel-led programme. Instead, we examine each planned route, identify the environments and research opportunities along the way, and invite researchers to bring projects that can make meaningful use of them.

Selected applicants join the scientific crew to conduct their own fieldwork, collect data, test methods, and advance research that might otherwise struggle to secure vessel access.

Projects may involve marine wildlife, environmental monitoring, acoustics, habitat, ocean conditions, pollution, molecular sampling, underwater technology, seafloor observation, or another field suited to the route and capabilities of the vessel.

You will develop and lead a clearly defined research project aboard the vessel. Before departure, you will work with our team to confirm your methodology, equipment, sampling requirements, permits, storage, data management, and the practical demands of conducting the work at sea.

Onboard, you will be responsible for carrying out your research, maintaining accurate records, managing samples and equipment, adapting to changing conditions, and collaborating with other researchers where projects overlap.

Weather, wildlife, vessel operations, and unexpected opportunities will all influence how the project unfolds. Researchers must be prepared to adapt without losing sight of the scientific purpose of their work.

A viable research question and a well-developed project proposal are essential. Applicants must also have the academic, technical, or professional experience needed to conduct the proposed work safely and responsibly.

Your methodology should be scientifically sound, realistic aboard a working vessel, and adaptable to changing field conditions. You must also be able to secure any required ethics approvals, licences, or research permits.

Previous shipboard research experience is useful but not required. Applicants should be capable of working independently while remaining active and cooperative members of the wider crew.

NGEN researchers are members of the vessel’s working crew, not visiting passengers. You may assist with shared sampling, wildlife observations, equipment deployment, data collection, educational activities, or other scientific work taking place during the voyage.

Every crew member will also stand vessel watch with a partner. You will be taught the navigation and watchkeeping skills needed to contribute safely, regardless of whether you arrive with previous sailing experience.

Everyone onboard shares responsibility for ordinary vessel life. This may include cleaning, loading supplies, preparing equipment, helping in the galley, and stepping in wherever another capable pair of hands is needed.

Position Type: Funded NGEN research placement; no salary
Travel: Economy travel to and from the assigned joining and departure points provided
Accommodation and Meals: Provided aboard
Project Costs: Specialist equipment, consumables, laboratory analysis, and shipping requirements reviewed with each proposal
Required Certifications: Dependent on the proposed research and voyage
Swimming Requirement: All crew members must be able to swim two kilometres and tread water unaided for 30 minutes
Watchkeeping: All crew members must stand vessel watch with a partner and participate in onboard navigation training
Physical Requirements: Ability to live and work aboard a moving vessel, climb stairs and ladders, move safely around deck, and participate in field and emergency operations
Voyage Matching: Proposals are matched to suitable routes, seasons, vessel capabilities, and available research berths—not simply the applicant’s preferred destination

Voyage Dates:
Next available openings launch March/ April 2027

Joining Port:
Dependent on voyage and crew rotation

Departure Port:
Dependent on voyage and crew rotation

Minimum Commitment:
At least one month or one complete voyage section

Application Deadline:
Rolling applications until available positions are filled

Expedition Audacity is seeking experienced mates and bosuns to help operate the vessel safely, support the wider crew, and keep daily deck operations moving through long and often demanding voyages.

These are working leadership positions. Mates will support the Captain in navigation, watchkeeping, passage planning, safety, and crew training. The Bosun will oversee practical deck operations, maintenance, equipment preparation, line handling, and the organisation of the deck team.

Although the responsibilities differ, both roles require sound seamanship, good judgement, and the ability to lead without turning every instruction into a theatrical production.

Mates will stand navigational watches, assist with passage planning, monitor weather and vessel systems, maintain the bridge log, supervise crew on watch, and support the Captain during arrivals, departures, anchoring, and emergency operations.

You will also help teach less-experienced crew members the fundamentals of navigation and watchkeeping. Every crew member aboard will stand vessel watch with a partner, so patience and the ability to explain procedures clearly are essential.

The Bosun will coordinate deck maintenance and daily work, including lines, fenders, anchoring equipment, tenders, cranes, safety equipment, exterior inspections, cleaning, painting, and preventative maintenance. You will help ensure the deck is prepared for scientific deployments, equipment recovery, small-boat operations, and changing weather conditions.

Both mates and the Bosun will work closely with the research, engineering, and film teams. Scientific operations often require deck space, lifting equipment, tenders, unusual deployment methods, and the occasional plan that looked much simpler when discussed ashore.

Applicants for mate positions must have appropriate maritime qualifications, documented sea time, and practical experience standing navigational watches aboard vessels of a comparable size or operating environment.

Bosun applicants should have substantial deck experience, strong seamanship skills, and the ability to organise maintenance, supervise deck crew, and carry out practical work safely with limited shore support.

For either position, you should bring:

• Strong line handling, anchoring, mooring, and general seamanship skills 
• A practical understanding of vessel safety and emergency procedures 
• The ability to supervise and teach crew with varying levels of experience 
• Confidence making decisions in changing weather and operational conditions 
• Experience maintaining deck equipment, safety gear, and exterior vessel systems 
• A calm, collaborative leadership style that earns trust rather than demands applause 

Experience with tenders, cranes, research equipment, cold-weather operations, remote passages, or sailing vessels will be particularly useful.

Mates and the Bosun are senior members of a multidisciplinary crew. You may support scientific deployments, wildlife observations, tender operations, equipment repairs, filming activities, educational programmes, provisioning, or other work required during the voyage.

You will also help establish the standards followed by the rest of the crew. That includes watch discipline, equipment care, deck safety, cleanliness, communication, and the willingness to deal with small problems before they become impressively expensive ones.

Everyone aboard contributes to ordinary vessel life. Rank does not provide immunity from cleaning, loading supplies, helping in the galley, or lending a hand when another department is under pressure.

Position Type: Volunteer crew position
Travel: Economy travel to and from the assigned joining and departure points provided
Accommodation and Meals: Provided aboard
Required Certifications: Appropriate to the position, vessel, flag requirements, and intended voyage
Mate Requirements: Relevant licence or certification, documented sea time, and watchkeeping experience
Bosun Requirements: Significant practical deck experience; formal qualifications considered where relevant
Swimming Requirement: All crew members must be able to swim two kilometres and tread water unaided for 30 minutes
Watchkeeping: Mates will lead navigational watches; the Bosun will also stand vessel watch with a partner and participate in navigation training
Physical Requirements: Ability to climb ladders, handle lines, lift and secure equipment, work outdoors in difficult conditions, and participate fully in emergency operations
Medical Fitness: Applicants must be medically fit for extended work aboard a moving vessel
Voyage Matching: Placements are based on qualifications, experience, vessel needs, route, and available berths

Work Location:
Remote, onboard, or a combination of both

Voyage Dates:
Onboard placements matched to a suitable upcoming voyage or investigation

Minimum Commitment:
Dependent on the investigation and assignment

Application Deadline:
Rolling applications as projects and positions become available

The Red Quill Society is seeking investigative journalists, researchers, analysts, documentary investigators, and experienced field investigators to examine environmental harm, illegal fishing, maritime crime, corporate misconduct, and the financial networks that allow those activities to continue.

Positions are available both remotely and aboard Expedition Audacity voyages. Some investigations begin with observations made at sea. Others begin thousands of kilometres away with a corporate filing, satellite image, shipping record, leaked document, or conversation with someone who knows more than they are comfortable saying publicly.

A suspicious vessel, damaged habitat, unusual discharge, or witness account may begin an investigation, but it rarely provides the whole story. Our work follows the evidence beyond the incident itself: who owns the vessels, who finances the operation, where the catch or resources go, which companies profit, and whether regulators, insurers, ports, or supply chains have been misled along the way.

We are not looking for people who begin with a villain and work backwards. We need investigators willing to test every claim, challenge their own assumptions, and accept that sometimes the evidence leads somewhere inconvenient—or nowhere conclusive at all.

Red Quill Society investigators and journalists help develop and conduct evidence-led investigations connected to Expedition Audacity voyages, reports submitted through The Hauntline, and other Red Quill Society projects.

Depending on your experience and assignment, your work may include:

• Vessel identification, AIS analysis, and satellite research 
• Corporate and beneficial-ownership investigation 
• Financial tracing and supply-chain analysis 
• Public-record, court-record, and regulatory research 
• Interviews, source development, and witness verification 
• Geospatial analysis and investigation of vessel movements 
• Environmental and wildlife-impact research 
• Evidence review, fact-checking, writing, and documentary development 

Remote investigators may work independently or as part of a distributed team, following leads, analysing documents, verifying evidence, tracing ownership structures, developing sources, and supporting field investigators aboard the vessel.

Onboard investigators may document vessel activity, environmental conditions, fishing operations, port movements, wildlife impacts, pollution, or other events encountered along the route. They may also conduct interviews, gather visual evidence, preserve records, and coordinate with remote investigators who can continue tracing the story ashore.

Some positions may combine both roles, with investigators preparing research remotely before joining the vessel for a defined section of an investigation.

Applicants should have relevant experience in investigative journalism, environmental investigation, maritime research, financial analysis, intelligence, law enforcement, documentary production, corporate research, or another field involving complex evidence and sensitive information.

You should bring:

• Strong research, interviewing, verification, and analytical skills 
• The ability to separate confirmed facts, credible indications, assumptions, and unanswered questions 
• Experience working with public records, databases, vessel information, corporate structures, or financial documents 
• Clear and responsible writing suitable for reports, journalism, briefings, or documentary development 
• Sound judgement when handling confidential sources, sensitive evidence, and allegations of wrongdoing 
• The patience to pursue complicated leads without inventing certainty where none exists 
• The willingness to follow evidence that may contradict the original theory 

Experience with maritime investigations, illegal or unreported fishing, environmental crime, sanctions, trade records, satellite imagery, geospatial analysis, data journalism, or cross-border reporting will be particularly valuable.

Fluency in additional languages and established knowledge of particular regions, industries, ports, governments, or fishing fleets may also strengthen an application.

All Red Quill Society investigations must be conducted lawfully, ethically, and with respect for personal safety, source protection, privacy, and due process.

Investigators may not obtain information through hacking, trespass, theft, coercion, unlawful surveillance, or deceptive methods that could place the organisation, crew, sources, or investigation at risk.

Evidence must be documented carefully, preserved securely, and reviewed before allegations are published or shared externally. Subjects of significant findings may be given an appropriate opportunity to respond, and sensitive matters may be referred to legal counsel, regulators, law enforcement, journalists, or partner organisations when that is the most responsible course.

A dramatic accusation supported by weak evidence is not an investigation. It is a lawsuit wearing a clever hat.

Remote investigators and journalists may contribute from anywhere in the world, provided they have reliable communications, can work securely, and are able to collaborate across time zones when required.

Assignments may involve short-term research tasks, ongoing investigations, regional monitoring, specialist analysis, source development, writing, editing, translation, or supporting an onboard team during an active voyage.

Remote positions do not require maritime experience, swimming qualifications, medical clearance, or participation in vessel watchkeeping.

Onboard investigators and journalists are members of the vessel’s working crew, not passengers waiting for suspicious ships to appear conveniently beside breakfast.

You may assist with photography, filming, wildlife observations, research documentation, interviews, educational programming, or other work connected to the voyage. Investigations frequently depend on cooperation across departments, particularly when scientific evidence, vessel observations, imagery, and public records must be examined together.

Every onboard crew member will stand vessel watch with a partner. You will be taught the navigation and watchkeeping skills needed to contribute safely, including lookout duties, bridge procedures, position monitoring, and logkeeping.

Everyone aboard also shares responsibility for daily vessel life. This may include cleaning, loading supplies, preparing equipment, helping in the galley, and supporting other departments when additional hands are required.

Position Type: Volunteer remote, onboard, or project-based position; no salary unless specifically stated
Work Location: Remote, onboard, or hybrid depending on the investigation
Primary Responsibilities: Investigative research, field observation, interviews, evidence verification, source development, analysis, and reporting
Experience Required: Demonstrated investigative, journalistic, analytical, legal, intelligence, or relevant research experience
Work Samples: Applicants should provide published work, reports, investigations, documentary material, analytical products, or another suitable portfolio
Confidentiality: All investigators must follow strict procedures for source protection, secure communications, evidence handling, and sensitive information
Editorial Standards: Public findings are subject to evidence review, fact-checking, legal considerations, and responsible-disclosure procedures
Assignment Matching: Positions are matched according to investigative experience, languages, regional knowledge, specialist skills, project requirements, and operational security

Travel: Economy travel to and from the assigned joining and departure points provided
Accommodation and Meals: Provided aboard
Required Certifications: Dependent on the assignment and voyage
Swimming Requirement: All onboard crew members must be able to swim two kilometres and tread water unaided for 30 minutes
Watchkeeping: All onboard crew members must stand vessel watch with a partner and participate in navigation training
Physical Requirements: Ability to live and work aboard a moving vessel, climb stairs and ladders, move safely around deck, carry field equipment, and participate in routine and emergency operations
Medical Fitness: Onboard applicants must be medically fit for extended life and work at sea

Voyage Dates:
Matched to a suitable upcoming voyage

Joining Port:
Dependent on voyage, project location, and community partnerships

Departure Port:
Dependent on voyage, project location, and community partnerships

Minimum Commitment:
At least one month or one complete research section

Application Deadline:
Rolling applications until available placements are filled

Expedition Audacity invites emerging and early-career anthropologists, Indigenous researchers, community-based scholars, cultural researchers, and interdisciplinary teams to propose projects that can be conducted alongside one of our upcoming voyages.

Our routes pass through regions shaped by generations of human experience, cultural knowledge, environmental change, maritime tradition, and relationships with the land and water. Scientific instruments can tell us a great deal about a place, but they cannot replace the knowledge of the people who live there.

We are particularly interested in research that is community-led, community-supported, or developed in genuine partnership with Indigenous peoples and local knowledge holders. Projects should create value for the participating communities rather than treating them simply as subjects, sources, or convenient scenery for someone else’s academic career.

You will bring a clearly defined research project that is appropriate for the voyage route, the participating communities, and the practical realities of conducting fieldwork from a working vessel.

Projects may explore Indigenous knowledge systems, maritime traditions, cultural geography, oral history, human relationships with wildlife, environmental change, food systems, community resilience, language, archaeology, heritage, migration, resource use, or another area connected to the people and places encountered along the route.

Before departure, you will work with our team to confirm your methodology, community partnerships, permissions, ethics requirements, research agreements, travel needs, documentation, data management, and the ways your work will be shared with participating communities.

Onboard and ashore, you may conduct interviews, record oral histories, document cultural practices, support community-led monitoring, gather historical material, facilitate knowledge exchanges, or collaborate with scientific teams where social, cultural, and environmental research overlap.

The vessel may support access and logistics, but it does not grant permission to enter communities, collect knowledge, or conduct research. Those relationships must be established respectfully and well before the vessel arrives.

Projects involving Indigenous peoples or traditional knowledge must be built around informed participation, appropriate consent, cultural protocols, and the priorities of the communities involved.

Applicants must clearly explain:

• How participating communities have been involved in shaping the project 
• Who has authorised or supported the proposed research 
• How information, recordings, samples, and cultural knowledge will be protected 
• Who will own, control, access, and approve the use of the resulting material 
• How the findings will be returned in a useful and accessible form 
• What lasting benefit the project is expected to provide 

Community knowledge is not automatically public information simply because someone agrees to discuss it. Researchers must respect restrictions around sacred, private, culturally sensitive, or collectively held knowledge.

Projects that arrive with every question already decided and the community added later as a source of quotations are unlikely to be selected.

Applicants should bring a viable research question, a well-developed proposal, and the academic, professional, cultural, or community experience required to conduct the work responsibly.

You should also bring:

• A strong understanding of ethical and community-based research practices 
• Existing relationships or a credible plan for developing appropriate partnerships 
• Experience with interviews, oral history, participant observation, archival research, or other relevant methods 
• The ability to work across cultures with patience, humility, and respect 
• Clear plans for consent, privacy, attribution, data governance, and the return of findings 
• The flexibility to adapt the project when communities identify different priorities 
• The ability to separate your interpretation from what participants have actually said 

Formal academic credentials may be appropriate for some projects, but they are not the only form of expertise we value. Indigenous researchers, community-appointed representatives, knowledge holders, and applicants working through non-traditional research pathways are encouraged to apply.

Fluency in relevant Indigenous or regional languages, experience working in remote communities, and knowledge of local history or governance will be particularly valuable.

NGEN researchers are members of the vessel’s working crew, not visiting observers. You may assist with environmental sampling, wildlife observations, educational programming, filming, research documentation, community events, or other projects taking place during the voyage.

You may also help researchers from other disciplines understand the social, historical, and cultural context surrounding their work. Collaboration is encouraged, but cultural knowledge must never be shared beyond the permissions under which it was provided.

Every crew member will stand vessel watch with a partner. You will be taught the navigation and watchkeeping skills needed to contribute safely, regardless of whether you arrive with previous sailing experience.

Everyone aboard also shares responsibility for everyday vessel life. This may include cleaning, loading supplies, preparing equipment, helping in the galley, and supporting other departments when another pair of capable hands is needed.

Position Type: Funded NGEN research placement; no salary
Travel: Economy travel to and from the assigned joining and departure points provided
Accommodation and Meals: Provided aboard
Project Costs: Translation, community participation, specialist equipment, local travel, archival access, transcription, and other research expenses will be reviewed with each proposal
Community Approval: Projects involving Indigenous communities, traditional knowledge, or culturally sensitive material must demonstrate appropriate consultation, consent, and local support
Ethics Requirements: Applicants are responsible for securing any required institutional, community, governmental, or regional approvals
Data and Knowledge Governance: Projects must respect community-defined ownership, access, control, attribution, storage, and publication requirements
Required Certifications: Dependent on the proposed research and voyage
Swimming Requirement: All crew members must be able to swim two kilometres and tread water unaided for 30 minutes
Watchkeeping: All crew members must stand vessel watch with a partner and participate in onboard navigation training
Physical Requirements: Ability to live and work aboard a moving vessel, climb stairs and ladders, travel ashore in small boats where required, and participate safely in routine and emergency operations
Medical Fitness: Applicants must be medically fit for extended life and work at sea
Voyage Matching: Proposals are matched to appropriate communities, established partnerships, routes, seasons, research opportunities, and available berths—not simply the applicant’s preferred destination